Nature Time

This Great Idea was inspired by the article, The Fourth Pillar of Health: Nature Time by Misty Pratt in Yes! Magazine (July 10, 2024).

It was fueled by this quote from John Muir, which I found while searching for a congregation doing outdoor yoga (mine does, but they don’t have a website or Facebook page that says so…).

Here’s John Muir:

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to the body and soul alike.” – John Muir

~~~

In the article, Misty Pratt shares her own experience of swimming in a Canadian lake as therapeutic for both her body and her mind.

Her friend, Dr. Melissa Lem, a Vancouver family physician and longtime advocate of the health benefits of nature, has had her own, similar, experiences – and is now a leading researcher of nature therapies in Canada.

That research is growing by leaps and bounds. As is awareness of the benefits of ‘nature school’ for all ages of learning.

Our Indigenous siblings are shaking their heads: they have known this medicine and way of life for centuries and generations. White-bodied people and scientists are just catching up.

The up-shot is: how can our congregations be communities in which we connect with nature on a regular basis?

As Pratt wonders, ‘Would gardening be something teens would want to do? Could wilderness adventure therapy work for older people with physical limitations?’

And spiritual communities are ideally situated to create a best-case scenario for outdoor activities. For Pratt observes, and research supports her, that, ‘…the mindful component of time in the outdoors could be one of the key reasons we experience such significant changes in our psychological and physiological health’.

How might your church community become literally a place of healing for body, mind, and soul?

The sky’s literally the limit on this: any excuse to get folx outdoors can be beneficial – and biblical (very few Bible stories happen within a building or a city, in case we haven’t noticed).

A lot of congregations are embracing:

These are, indeed, Great Ideas in their own right.

But with very little effort, smaller events, daily events, and individually-led opportunities can be created and facilitated – and moved out-of-doors for the benefits of nature time.

  • turn individual’s regular swim, run, walk, bike, etc., activities into prayer time with a simple practice of awareness and intention: notice, wonder about, be inspired by, and share gratitude for whatever is around you as you do these outdoor activities
  • visit an outdoor labyrinth near you – individually or as a group
  • develop a community garden and invite all ages to share in tending it
  • create a pollinator plot/ecological oasis on your church property – invite all ages to tend it
  • take nature walks together regularly: wonder, learn about, and grow in relationship with the land around your building
  • share something like, Path to Peace with Creation: ‘Follow the Peace Path’ Cards for at-home outdoor family practices
  • move fitness / yoga practices outside for the summer
  • share the article and brainstorm intergenerationally about engagement at home and together

Read/share the full article here.

Get people moving outside (according to their abilities) and enjoy a multitude of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits as you build community together!!